I will be the first to admit- living frugally is not always easy nor is it always fun. I work at it and I have tried to develop strategies that help me stay on my path and I hope I can encourage you to stay on course.
There are a ton of websites out there, including Frugal Living Mom that really tout the joys of spending your money more wisely. But I do think that if you are new to the frugal lifestyle all this information can seem overwhelming and impossible to achieve.
Some of the best advice I have heard is to take baby steps to becoming frugal. Seriously it can be really frustrating to try to go from spending $200 a week on groceries down to $40- but you might feel like this is what is necessary to be a successful “frugalista”.
My advice, you don’t have to go cold turkey with spending. See if you can cut your bill by 20% by incorporating a few coupons, sales and markdowns. Then when you’ve got that down cut it down some more. Pretty soon your bargain hunting will become a habit and it will get easier and in no time you will be closer to that $40 a week grocery bill.
What if you are used to going out to eat several times a week and are used to that convenience but now you can’t afford it anymore. Well, even though pre-prepared food items are not necessarily the most frugal compared to making everything from scratch they sure are cheaper than going out and are still very convenient. How about starting out by picking up a few prepared meals for the week then weaning yourself down to only one a week, if you feel like you can do it. Another option for reducing the cost of your “going out to eat habit” is to use coupons. Either purchase an Entertainment Book or just check you mail for local restaurant coupons. There are so many opportunities for BOGO meals.
One strategy that my hubby and I tried this year was to sit down and evaluate all of our bills. We were able to go through our credit card statements and other monthly billing and really evaluate where the money was going and what things where really frivolous. If you do this you might be amazed how easily money flows out the door without you really even noticing. Just by cutting things like some dinners out, reducing our cable, changing our phone plan, etc. we were easily able to cut over $500 a month off our expenses. It doesn’t sound like much- but that is $6000 per year. If you where able to put that away in savings, even with out interest, in 10 years you would have $60,000. Crazy huh? $500 a month worth of cuts hurts so little- I can personally attest to it.
Take the steps to become frugal one at a time- you will find it easier and more comfortable. Plus you will take the time to develop good habits that you want to stick to.
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